Context

Joshua 10

the Israelites are just getting into the land and driving and wiping out those who were engaged in some pretty nasty stuff. Remember, God had promised this land to them all the way back through Abraham. They are fighting for the land that would one day become the kingdom os Israel. There are many parallels for us to learn in Joshua in terms of what it takes to conquer our promised land in Jesus. Not a physical land, but conquering the flesh in our lives.

During the Exodus and through Joshua, God refers to His people as His sheep and He is their Shepherd. He is also fighting for them, ahead of them, directing them, as they establish their physical kingdom on earth.

Matthew 10:5

Jesus is sending out his 12 disciples and says in verse 6, “But go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'”

After a turbulent history of idolatry, being evicted out of the promised land by God Himself, and being brought back in as God promised, Jesus refers to God’s chosen people as “lost” and sends His guys to tell them that God’s kingdom was at hand.

How are these two threads connected?

In both passages the people are in the land and still in occupied territory. In Joshua by all kinds of different tribes, in Matthew, Judea is a Roman border territory.

In both cases the kingdom was at hand, but in the Matthew context they didn’t know that they weren’t a part of it.

How do we apply this?

Sometimes you can be where God wants you to be, “in the land” and still have to fight your way through. Other times you can think you are all good where God is concerned and actually be lost.

In either case, all of our resources to fight and sense of direction must come from Jesus. If we are lost we need to listen to Him for direction. If we are powerless we need to remember to be builders of His kingdom and not our own, because that is usually what is derailing us.

Don’t be lost in the wrong kingdom. Be found building HIs.

[reminder]Take a few moments, or as much time as it takes, and try to honestly answer the questions: whose kingdom are you building, and what are you going to do about that?[/reminder]

Podcast

Daily Thread is part of The Blue Thread series of podcasts focused on weaving God’s word into life.